A palm-sized Chanel bag that costs 9 million won becomes 10 million won a year later [Luxury Price Story]

[Financial News] As luxury brands in Korea move to raise prices one after another from the very beginning of the new year, consumers are grumbling that “yet another” round of price hikes in the luxury sector has become part of everyday life.

According to the luxury industry on the 5th, French luxury brand Chanel has carried out its third price increase of the year.
Chanel Korea raised the price of the CHANEL 25 Handbag by about 3% on the 2nd.
With this latest hike, the small CHANEL 25 Handbag has been repriced at 10.42 million won.
The CHANEL 25 Handbag, which was launched in the 9 million won range last spring, has risen by more than 1 million won in just one year.
Earlier, on January 13 this year, Chanel raised prices on bags such as the Chanel Classic Flap Bag by about 7%, and also increased jewelry prices in the same month.
Chanel has been implementing its “Nth” price hike every year, and the brand is expected to carry out yet another round of increases this year as well. Some consumers anticipate that, following the latest CHANEL 25 Handbag hike, Chanel will further raise prices on key handbag lines, including its classic line.
After Chanel raised prices on some handbags such as the Chanel Classic Flap Bag and the Boy Chanel flap bag on the 1st, the Classic Maxi Handbag now costs more than 20 million won.
According to the financial results released by Chanel Korea on the 25th of last month, last year’s revenue came to about 2.013 trillion won, up 9% from a year earlier, while operating profit rose 25% year-on-year to about 336 billion won.
Some observers say they cannot understand why Chanel keeps raising prices in Korea even as its local revenue has surpassed 2 trillion won.

It is not only Chanel; other luxury brands are also lining up to raise prices.
Swiss luxury watch brand Rolex increased prices on its products in Korea by about 7.4% right at the start of the new year.
TAG Heuer and Hublot, both brands under the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) group, also raised their watch prices in Korea in January by about 6% and 3–8%, respectively.
French luxury jewelry and watch brand Cartier increased product prices by 6–9% in January, while Swiss luxury watch and jewelry brand Piaget raised prices on items sold in Korea by up to 5% in the same month.
French luxury jewelry brand Van Cleef & Arpels and French luxury brand Christian Dior both raised jewelry prices by about 6% in February. In March, Tiffany & Co., the jewelry brand under LVMH, and Italian high jewelry brand Damiani also joined the wave of price hikes.
Meanwhile, luxury brands are set to continue raising prices this month as well.
Italian luxury jewelry and watch brand Bulgari plans to raise prices on some products on the 20th, and French luxury jewelry brand Chaumet is also expected to increase prices on certain items later this month.
newssu@fnnews.com Kim Su-yeon Reporter